Economics

Executive Summary

- When the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) was signed in 2015 claims were made that Australian jobs would go to Chinese workers and safety standards on Australian work sites would fall. 

Due to the dominance of coal in China’s energy mix, coal prices have always been a challenging part of pricing reform. The recent frequent government interventions raise the key research questions: what is the actual impact of price policies on coal price fluctuations, and how can forward-looking pricing policies be made? By proposing a novel classification of coal pricing policies and introducing an expectation and forward-looking coefficient, the paper examines the relationship between coal price fluctuations and pricing policies using the generalised method of moments (GMM) method.

By James Laurenceson

Note: This article appeared in The Australian Financial Review on January 9 2019.

In 2018 China delivered the Australian economy what it has come to count on: another big boost in demand.

The latest data show annual Australian goods exports to China hitting $112 billion, up 10.3 percent on a year earlier. Services exports stand at $16.9 billion, jumping 17.2 percent.

Chinese investment in Australian infrastructure assets can bring economic benefits for both countries. However, it can also create domestic political challenges. This is because Australian public support for foreign investment in infrastructure is limited. In order to better inform public policy and firm decision-making in both China and Australia, this paper undertakes a choice modelling analysis of original survey data to determine the drivers of local public preferences.

By Simone van Nieuwenhuizen

Note: This article appeared in The Australian Financial Review on October 22 2018.

By James Laurenceson

Note: This article appeared in The Conversation on October 8 2018.

By orchestrating China’s transition to a market economy, Deng Xiaoping has left a lasting legacy on China and the world.

1. China is now the world leader in installed capacities of hydro, solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind power. China currently accounts for 28.5 percent of the global hydroelectricity generation, 32.8 percent and 31.9 percent of global solar PV and wind power installed capacity, respectively.[1] 

2. In 2017 China added:

Steven Bannon, former chief strategist to US president, Donald Trump, has courted Australian media in a bid to influence public opinion on China.

1. In the year to June 2018, the value of Western Australia goods exports to China was $61.5 billion. This compares with a record high of $62.7 billion in May 2014.1

2. Exports to China account for 47.4 percent of total WA goods exports, and are the equivalent of 24.8 percent of Gross State Product.2

By James Laurenceson

Note: This article appeared in the China Daily on August 8 2018. 

The United States continues to ratchet up its trade threats against China, the latest being the threat to impose 25 percent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese exports, up from the 10 percent mooted previously.